Chapter Summaries

Jiang Chen persuaded Chen Gongxing to spare Liu Ruyan and traveled with him and Reverend Guiqi toward Liyue, learning that Chen hoped to use his unusually pure cultivation to complete a mission. After that simulation ended before they reached Liyue, Jiang Chen began a third simulation by rescuing the weakened Tian Mingye and asking the demoness to help him cultivate.

• Jiang Chen agreed to accompany Chen Gongxing to Liyue after Chen spared Liu Ruyan, and Reverend Guiqi recognized Jiang Chen’s practice of the Form-Returning Technique.
• Chen Gongxing explained that he was a Liyue Walker under assessment and hoped Jiang Chen’s pure sea of qi could help him complete his mission to fuse demon, devil, and spiritual energy.
• Chen Gongxing, Reverend Guiqi, and Jiang Chen traveled toward Liyue by flying boat, but the simulation ended before they arrived.
• Jiang Chen rejected the ending where he went to Liyue and began a third simulation on Myriad Laws Peak.
• After Tian Mingye’s devil energy was drained and Thousand-Faced Fox helped cast an illusion, Jiang Chen carried the weakened demoness away on his flying sword and told her he had come to save her.

Jiang Chen helped Tian Mingye destroy the Form-Returning Formation, restoring her power and enabling her to kill Reverend Guiqi. Tian Mingye took Jiang Chen toward the Heavenly Demon Sect as her cultivation vessel, while Jiang Chen worried about losing his freedom.

• Jiang Chen abducted Tian Mingye to the Burial Ground and asked her to replenish his demonic power.
• Tian Mingye channeled demonic energy through Jiang Chen as they activated the Return-Form Formation, collapsing Reverend Guiqi's formation and restoring her power.
• Tian Mingye fought Chen Gongxing, killed Reverend Guiqi, and left the Azure Mist Sect with Jiang Chen and the little demon girl.
• Liu Ruyan watched from Tranquil Heart Peak and thought, "But... I was here first..."
• Tian Mingye told Jiang Chen she would make him her cultivation vessel and offered to turn him into a woman instead.
• The little demon girl opened a spatial rift, and a gigantic Demonic Beast carried Tian Mingye, Jiang Chen, and the little demon girl toward the Heavenly Demon Sect.

Jiang Chen traveled with Tian Mingye and her attendant to the Heavenly Demon Sect, where he learned how the Devil Race raised human slaves and selected people to become devils. After arriving at Tian Mingye’s palace, he endured painful tests by demonesses and reached the fourth level of Qi Refining without seeing Tian Mingye again.

• Jiang Chen resisted the Demon Kun’s corrosive demonic qi, revealed that he could release demonic qi, and was thrown into the Abyss by Tian Mingye’s attendant for touching her master.
• The attendant retrieved Jiang Chen after Tian Mingye reprimanded her, and the Demon Kun carried them to the Heavenly Demon Sect in less than an hour.
• Jiang Chen saw the sect’s enormous tree bearing human-shaped fruits and learned that imprisoned humans were bred as blood slaves while other humans were used as bait for Demonic Beasts.
• The demon girl explained that the Devil Race selected talented humans to become devils and used the rest as bait, prompting Jiang Chen to resolve not to help either demons or devils eat humans.
• At Heavenly Nether Palace, demonesses subjected Jiang Chen to painful tests before he could become Tian Mingye’s cultivation vessel, raising him to the fourth level of Qi Refining without letting him see Tian Mingye again.

Jiang Chen chose the first simulation ending, gaining the qi refining sixth layer and returning to reality under automated control. He watched Chen Gongxing become a Liyue apostle and learned that dragons may be the only beings capable of perfectly uniting human, beast, and devil powers.

• Jiang Chen reviewed the three simulations and chose the first ending, prioritizing safety, cultivation, and his relationship with Thousand-Faced Fox.
• The system overwrote Jiang Chen's real-world path, and he awoke at the qi refining sixth layer with three unwatched recordings.
• In the first recording, Chen Gongxing met Liyue's provincial governor, who discovered Reverend Guiqi's Form-Returning Book and made Chen Gongxing a one-star Liyue apostle.
• The governor assigned Chen Gongxing to search for Elder Dragon Clan bones and explained that dragons could ascend to immortality without taking human form.
• The governor said a dragon might be the only vessel capable of perfectly fusing human, beast, and devil powers, and Jiang Chen realized he was a descendant of the dragon.

Jiang Chen watched visions of Tian Mingye and the Thousand-Faced Fox, learning that the fox had possessed Liu Ruyan and that Tian Mingye was searching for a Dragon Bone. The fox then sensed someone watching her through the vision.

• Jiang Chen watched Chen Gongxing's vision and learned that a senior apostle was testing a Heavenly Demon near the vanished Seeking Demon Sect.
• Jiang Chen saw Tian Mingye return to the Heavenly Demon Sect after her failed attack on the Azure Mist Sect and heard her discuss Chen Gongxing, Reverend Guiqi, and an unknown cultivator who absorbed her demonic qi.
• Tian Mingye explained that Liu Ruyan was a host possessed by the Thousand-Faced Fox, and she and the demon girl discussed the fox's search for the Return-Form Method.
• Tian Mingye said she needed a Dragon Bone to control her Heavenly Demon body, while the demon girl revealed that her brother had already gone to search for one.
• Jiang Chen opened the Thousand-Faced Fox's vision, and the fox looked toward him through the vision and said someone was watching them.

Jiang Chen learned that the Snake-Demon Widow hoped he might someday escort her back to Shipo Forest, but he refused to get involved. Their conversation was interrupted when a beautiful woman in blue robes barged in and accused him of drinking her wine and flirting with the widow.

• Jiang Chen realized that Butterfly Effect footage could show events from a different point in time, and that Thousand-Faced Fox’s attempt to deduce him had been captured by the simulator.
• The Snake-Demon Widow brought Jiang Chen wine to celebrate his rapid cultivation progress, then helped him into the spirit spring after he absorbed the wine’s power.
• The widow told Jiang Chen how she had been bought as a demon slave, married as a concubine, and left alone after her husband’s death; she asked him to take her back to Shipo Forest someday.
• The widow revealed that a powerful official outside had been harassing her and owed her several hundred spirit stones, but Jiang Chen refused to help.
• A woman in blue robes kicked open the door, saw Jiang Chen bathing, and accused him of drinking her wine and flirting with the widow.

Jiang Chen met the drunken warden Li Lingzhou, then left the Spirit Spring Inn and tried to lie low while waiting for the next main plot. He sold some belongings, checked into a mortal inn, and was woken by Li Lingzhou, who had tracked him down.

• Jiang Chen met Li Lingzhou at the Spirit Spring Inn, where she drank his wine, fell asleep in the pool, and ignored the news that the Azure Mist Sect was safe.
• Senior Zhang told Jiang Chen that Li Lingzhou was unreliable but had mysterious power, and Jiang Chen decided not to rely on her and left the inn.
• Jiang Chen thought about the Thousand-Faced Fox and decided to seek a safe place to stay until the next main plot appeared.
• Jiang Chen sold his sect robes, spare sword, and machete for twenty spirit stones, then bought a gray robe and checked into an inn for mortals.
• After sleeping through half a day and a night without the main plot appearing, Jiang Chen was woken when Li Lingzhou found him and asked where he was from.

Li Lingzhou found Jiang Chen and recruited him to accompany her to the Azure Mist Sect to collect a debt, promising him ten percent of whatever she recovered. As they flew there, she discovered Jiang Chen could use Five-Element Spirit Control and questioned how he had learned it.

• Li Lingzhou tracked Jiang Chen by his unusual spiritual power and asked where he came from, but he evaded the question.
• Li Lingzhou explained that she planned to collect spirit stones from the Azure Mist Sect for a promised siege fee and offered Jiang Chen a share to help her.
• Jiang Chen agreed to accompany Li Lingzhou, introduced himself as Jiang Chen, and flew on the tail of her sword.
• Li Lingzhou accelerated her sword, but Jiang Chen steadied himself with Metal Element and Wind Element Spirit Control.
• Li Lingzhou noticed Jiang Chen's Five-Element Spirit Control and demanded to know who had taught him.

Li Lingzhou took Jiang Chen to the Azure Mist Sect and forced Luo Qingzhou to pay five thousand spirit stones for the sect’s survival. She then brought Jiang Chen to Flame Mountain for a month-long survival trial that could help him qualify as a Prison Suppression Envoy.

• Li Lingzhou introduced Jiang Chen to Luo Qingzhou as a former Azure Mist Sect disciple who had witnessed Tian Mingye’s attack, then confronted Luo about why the demoness had spared the sect.
• Jiang Chen listed Luo Qingzhou’s wealth and past spending, and Luo paid Li Lingzhou five thousand spirit stones.
• Li Lingzhou gave Jiang Chen his promised five hundred spirit stones, while he refused her suggestion that he help her meet Tian Mingye for a money-making scheme.
• Li Lingzhou explained that Jiang Chen could earn a government salary as a Prison Suppression Envoy if he proved his abilities and reached the required cultivation.
• Li Lingzhou marked out a Sword-Qi Domain on Flame Mountain and ordered Jiang Chen to survive there for a month among the Sandworms and Sand Monsters.

Jiang Chen endured Li Lingzhou’s Flame Mountain trial by hunting Sandworms and training his skills. After half a month, he had reached Peak Perfection in his body arts and Eight-Step Mad Blade, advanced Basic Spirit Control to Consummate Mastery, and discovered that Myriad Phenomena Resonance had been unlocked.

• Li Lingzhou sealed Jiang Chen inside a Sword-Qi Domain, told him to preserve the five hundred spirit stones she had given him, and left as the trial began.
• Jiang Chen trained Eight-Step Mad Blade with mortal strength until a Sandworm attacked at night, then killed it with Earth-Element Spirit Control and his sword.
• Jiang Chen hunted dozens of Qi Refining Sandworms over the following days, sustaining himself with their cores and veins while advancing Eight-Step Mad Blade and Basic Body Arts to Peak Perfection.
• Jiang Chen failed to absorb beast spirits with the Demi-Immortal's Book, then practiced concealing his aura and moving underground inside a spirit-made Sandworm.
• After another five days, Jiang Chen advanced Basic Spirit Control to Consummate Mastery and found the full Myriad Phenomena Resonance method unlocked on the jade slip Chen Gongxing had given him.

Jiang Chen mastered Myriad Phenomena Realm Resonance and used it to kill a Foundation Establishment Sandworm while still at Qi Refining. After securing the Sandworm’s core pill, he received an invitation to begin the Plot Simulation for Main Storyline Four: "Twin Mermaids."

• Jiang Chen assessed his strengths and weaknesses, then began cultivating Myriad Phenomena Realm Resonance in the desert.
• After three days, Jiang Chen reached Beginner’s Insight, and after nine more days of studying Li Lingzhou’s Sword-Qi Domain, he advanced to Minor Mastery.
• With three days left in his trial, Jiang Chen lured a Foundation Establishment Sandworm into the Sword Domain to test his new skill.
• Jiang Chen broke through the Sandworm’s spiritual-pressure suppression, cut it open with a single sword slash, and used resonance to withstand its counterattack.
• Jiang Chen drove the weakened Sandworm from the ground, retrieved its damaged core pill, and stored it in his inventory.
• The system announced that Main Storyline Four, "Twin Mermaids," was online and asked whether Jiang Chen wanted to begin the Plot Simulation.

Jiang Chen watched a storyline in which Fireburn Kingdom agents intercepted an Artificial Sandworm carrying two captive Merfolk Women and delivered the twins to the palace. The black-clad agent later wondered whom to give the recovered Merfolk Pearls to, while Jiang Chen suspected the Empress Dowager might be connected to the fox demon legend.

• Jiang Chen began the Twin Mermaids storyline and saw an Artificial Sandworm racing through the desert near Flame Mountain.
• A black-clad Foundation Establishment man pursued the Artificial Sandworm, killed the two merchants inside, and rescued two captive Merfolk twin sisters.
• The black-clad man brought the unconscious Merfolk Women to an underground relay station, where General Chen praised his service and promised to petition for his promotion.
• General Chen returned to Xiyang City and delivered the Merfolk Women to the palace for examination by imperial physicians.
• The black-clad man found more than twenty Merfolk Pearls in a merchant's Storage Ring and debated whether to give them to the princess or the Empress Dowager.
• Jiang Chen wondered whether Thousand-Faced Fox possessed the Empress Dowager and whether she had once ruled from behind the curtain.

Jiang Chen considered using Thousand-Faced Fox’s matching avatar to approach the Empress Dowager, then began a simulation to rescue two mermaid women and acquire Merfolk Pearls. After bargaining failed inside an Artificial Sandworm, he attacked the middle-aged merchant.

• Jiang Chen reviewed the palace plot and decided the Empress Dowager might be a suitable partner for dual cultivation.
• He began the first simulation and airdropped into an Artificial Sandworm carrying two merchants, two mermaid women, and Merfolk Pearls.
• Jiang Chen warned the merchants that black-clothed Imperial Guards were pursuing them and persuaded them to dive and hide.
• After the danger passed, Jiang Chen offered sandworm cores in exchange for the mermaid women and twenty Merfolk Pearls, but the middle-aged merchant refused.
• Jiang Chen produced a bag of spirit stones to distract the merchant, then pierced his forehead with a disciple sword.

Jiang Chen killed a Foundation Establishment merchant and an insect tamer who were trafficking Merfolk Women, then waited calmly when General Chen arrived. He revealed that he belonged to the Empress Dowager, leaving General Chen to face the revelation.

• Jiang Chen defeated the merchant with his sword and destroyed the merchant’s soul and dantian after killing the insect tamer.
• Jiang Chen looted the merchants, rescued the two Merfolk Women, and sensed a Golden Core cultivator approaching.
• General Chen pulled the Sandworm vessel from beneath the desert and confronted Jiang Chen over the Merfolk Women and the merchant’s Storage Ring.
• Jiang Chen refused to identify himself until he declared that he was the Empress Dowager’s man.

Jiang Chen reached Peaceful Palace after Chen Huan confirmed that the empress dowager knew him, then faced Mu Rong’s illusion and entered her private chambers. Mu Rong attacked him in anger, but Jiang Chen survived until midnight.

• Jiang Chen told Chen Huan that the empress dowager was not human, convincing him to shelter him and the two Merfolk Women.
• Chen Huan sent the Merfolk Women to Taigan Palace, confirmed Jiang Chen was known to the empress dowager, and secretly escorted him to Peaceful Palace.
• Jiang Chen entered Peaceful Palace, ignored the palace maids under illusion, and greeted the empress dowager.
• Mu Rong struck Jiang Chen with an illusion, but he recognized the test and entered her inner chamber.
• Jiang Chen claimed he had a new ability Mu Rong would love, and she attacked him until he bled, yet he lived until midnight.

Jiang Chen finished his first simulation after learning the Empress Dowager was tied to the Dragon Bone, then began a second attempt to obtain the merfolk and their pearls. The new plan ended with him killing Chen using Sword-Qi Domain.

• Jiang Chen learned that the Empress Dowager was Mu Rong, possessed only Foundation Establishment Peak cultivation, and was waiting for an opportunity connected to the Dragon Bone.
• The first simulation ended, and Jiang Chen resolved to correct his mistakes by changing his route in the second simulation.
• Jiang Chen led the Sandworm to Flame Mountain and offered the merchant worm cores in exchange for two Merfolk Women and twenty Merfolk Pearls.
• The merchant became suspicious, fought Jiang Chen, and was killed after their battle moved between the underground and the surface.
• Chen arrived with another black-clothed man and pulled the Artificial Sandworm from underground, but Jiang Chen attacked him.
• Jiang Chen activated Sword-Qi Domain and split apart Chen's palm force and body with a single slash.

Jiang Chen defeated the attackers, cultivated to Qi Refining Ninth Layer, and brought the Twin Mermaids to Mu Rong. Mu Rong explained that her Dragon Bone vision was tied to the mermaids, and their origins suggested a connection to a beast tamer and the princess.

• Jiang Chen killed General Chen and the fleeing black-clad man, then took their belongings and returned to Flame Mountain.
• Jiang Chen absorbed Heavenly Demon qi, swallowed the Merfolk Pearls and over three hundred spirit stones, and advanced to Qi Refining Ninth Layer.
• Jiang Chen visited Mu Rong at Peaceful Palace and cultivated with her while pressing her about the palace struggle and the Dragon Bone.
• Mu Rong said she had divined that the Dragon Bone was connected to the Twin Mermaids, whose blood might carry Dragon Clan ancestry.
• Mu Rong searched the Twin Mermaids’ souls and learned that a young beast tamer had raised them before they ran away and were captured by merchants.
• Jiang Chen recalled that the princess was betrothed to a Beast Taming Sect prodigy and suspected the mermaids’ past was tied to her.

Jiang Chen learned that Princess Ping'an rivaled the Crown Prince, planned to live in the Peaceful Palace under a cover identity, and heard about Li Lingzhou’s gambling habits. After the second simulation ended, he began a third run and forcibly absorbed Li Lingzhou’s Sword Qi, which filled him with horror.

• The Empress Dowager told Jiang Chen that Princess Ping'an was engaged to Yun Lanzi and coveted the throne.
• Jiang Chen proposed posing as the Empress Dowager’s bodyguard or imperial physician, then asked about Li Lingzhou and learned she gambled away her money.
• The Empress Dowager said Li Lingzhou had invited Jiang Chen to become a Prison Suppression Envoy, but Jiang Chen preferred the imperial physician role.
• The second simulation ended, and Jiang Chen reflected on his gains before choosing to begin a third simulation.
• Jiang Chen killed the old general and the black-clad Foundation Establishment cultivator, absorbed fiendish and demonic energy, then forcibly drew in Li Lingzhou’s Sword Qi and was horrified.

Jiang Chen absorbed Li Lingzhou’s Sword Qi, greatly increasing his physical strength while keeping his cultivation and Demonic Aura separate. Li Lingzhou arrived through a spatial rift, demanded payment for her Sword Qi, and failed to recruit him; Jiang Chen left for Xiyang City and the Peaceful Palace.

• Jiang Chen subdued Li Lingzhou’s Sword Qi in his dantian, preserved his Demonic Aura, and returned to Qi Refining Ninth Layer.
• Jiang Chen devoured the rest of the Sword Qi and found that it greatly increased his speed and strength without affecting his other powers.
• Li Lingzhou tore open a spatial rift and emerged, surprised that Jiang Chen had survived and absorbed her Sword Qi.
• Li Lingzhou demonstrated her sword’s power, asked Jiang Chen to join the Prison Suppression Bureau, and demanded payment when he refused.
• Jiang Chen paid Li Lingzhou five hundred spirit stones, protected the two Merfolk Women, and flew toward Xiyang City while she went to the Thousand-Gold Gambling House.
• Jiang Chen bought a carriage and went to the Peaceful Palace to cultivate with the empress dowager.

Jiang Chen completed the third simulation, chose its ending, and returned to the palace as the Empress Dowager’s personal imperial physician. After spending the night cultivating with Mu Rong, he drew the attention of Princess Ping'an, who came to meet him.

• Jiang Chen finished the Empress Dowager storyline in his third simulation and selected its ending to overwrite the real path.
• Jiang Chen awoke in Peaceful Palace under twelve hours of system control and accepted the position of personal imperial physician.
• Jiang Chen and Mu Rong discussed the Merfolk Women, demons, and cultivation before Mu Rong gave him a Lotus Worm Pill.
• Jiang Chen used resonance, Pure Yang Sword Aura, and spirit control to overcome Mu Rong’s illusion arts and the pill’s effects during their night of cultivation.
• News of the Empress Dowager’s new imperial physician spread through the palace, and Princess Ping'an arrived at Peaceful Palace seeking him.